Flashing Screen KB3097877

[PaulTech]

I received a call this afternoon from a Dentist Office with two machines where the screen was flashing. Both were touch screen all in one machines. I had planned on doing a restore but it is not enabled. So then I had to dive into the fix. I've got one fixed and the other not yet. Here's what I did and what I plan to do tomorrow. If someone has some pointers or tips that would be most welcome:

1. First identified that KB3097877 is the culprit for these Win 7 Pro machines.
2. Booted from a Linux USB and did the utilman trick to get access to the CMD prompt.
3. Booted safemode command prompt.
4. Ran the recommended: %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\wusa.exe /uninstall /quiet /forcerestart /kb:3097877 (computer did not reboot after running the command). - not sure if this will take in safemode?
5. I rebooted and on one machine after being at the login screen for a few minutes it started an "installing updates", rebooted and the issue is resolved.

I'm going back in the morning to resolve the 2nd machine. My current game plan is:

1. retry running the command from a normal bootup. I've noticed I can get to the command prompt and keep using Alt+Tab to complete the command to get back to the cmd window.
2. run: wuauclt.exe /updatenow

I may boot from the Win 7 Pro disk and run the commands from there. Another plan is using this trick (http://www.windows-commandline.com/enable-disable-auto-login/) to auto-login to the computer. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[nlinecomputers]

This has been reported all over the internet today. Microsoft rolled out a bad patch. They have since updated it and fixed it. What you did is the proper way to remove it. Microsoft has already replaced the patch so if you see it download again from WU you are safe.

 

[PaulTech]

Thanks for that info. I think I saw you on another thread using Managed Services to manage patches. In this case I've still have to get the bad KB off. It's good to know that if it downloads again with the same number it isn't a problem.

 

[nlinecomputers]

If you are getting the patch from Windows Update. If you use MaxFocus then wait. The old patch is still in the system.

 

[PaulTech]

It's a new customer. The computers are using Windows Update.

 

[david248005]

I received a call this afternoon from a Dentist Office with two machines where the screen was flashing. Both were touch screen all in one machines. I had planned on doing a restore but it is not enabled. So then I had to dive into the fix. I've got one fixed and the other not yet. Here's what I did and what I plan to do tomorrow. If someone has some pointers or tips that would be most welcome:

1. First identified that KB3097877 is the culprit for these Win 7 Pro machines.
2. Booted from a Linux USB and did the utilman trick to get access to the CMD prompt.
3. Booted safemode command prompt.
4. Ran the recommended: %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\wusa.exe /uninstall /quiet /forcerestart /kb:3097877 (computer did not reboot after running the command). - not sure if this will take in safemode?
5. I rebooted and on one machine after being at the login screen for a few minutes it started an "installing updates", rebooted and the issue is resolved.

I'm going back in the morning to resolve the 2nd machine. My current game plan is:

1. retry running the command from a normal bootup. I've noticed I can get to the command prompt and keep using Alt+Tab to complete the command to get back to the cmd window.
2. run: wuauclt.exe /updatenow

I may boot from the Win 7 Pro disk and run the commands from there. Another plan is using this trick (http://www.windows-commandline.com/enable-disable-auto-login/) to auto-login to the computer. Thanks in advance for any help!

Great post. I've got 2 Acer All In Ones coming in today with that very problem. At least I know what to do and what caused it. Cheers

 

[PaulTech]

I went back for about 1/2 hour and was not successful. I had to leave for a previous appt and I plan to return this afternoon. If someone has had success please post back your steps. Thanks!

I think this will work and the biggest stumble block is figuring what drive letter to use, usually c-e:

1. Upon starting up your computer, enter Advanced Boot Options by hitting F8 repeatedly before you get the "Starting Windows" screen. (startup repair > advanced options)
2. Go to "Repair my computer".
3. Wait for it to ask you to enter your credentials, and do so.
4. System Recovery Options list will come up. The last option should be to open Command Prompt - do this now.
5. Type the following (where X: refers to the drive that your Windows updates should be installed to - this is usually C:, but mine is D:

change X: to C: or D: or E: depending on Windows Install location

dism /image:X:\ /remove-package /packagenameackage_for_KB3097877~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.1.1 /scratchdir:X:\temp (sorry, not sure how to stop the smiley, replace it with ": P" not spaces)

(32bit system change amd64 to x86)

if directory doesn't exist error try the command and remove "\temp" at the end.

Also try booting from recovery disk: change \temp to \windows\temp (different locations on different machines)

Still getting an error then try typing regedit and see instructions here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/982736

if still no joy run sfc /scannow and try again.

 

[Markverhyden]

How fortuitous! I just picked up a Dell AIO W7 Home Premium with flashing screen, safe mode, etc not working. Thanks for the details @PaulTech.

 

[HCHTech]

I just had 3 domain workstations today with this problem. Unfortunately, I didn't know about the update nonsense before I went onsite. It also broke their ability to log onto the network, just for some extra fun.

 

[Markverhyden]

No love so far. BTW, I already ran a KRD and the machine appears to be clean. Tried the utliman trick and it would not boot into CLI. So I rebooted into W7 recovery dvd and ran the command to remove KB 3097877. Computer did not reboot like the OP. I rebooted from the repair utility and still getting the same symptom. So I'll have to continue this journey tomorrow.

 

[PaulTech]

Update: this was the final trick that worked for me. Just to clarify, change the values just before the /f to those of the computer and username. Also, use the spacebar after entering the first REG ADD to quickly get to where you need to edit for each cmd line.

Get to a cmd prompt and set it to auto-logon (source). This appears to be the solution that finally worked. Others are using RDP or psexec but not sure of that process.

Set DefaultDomainName to match ComputerName (cmd: echo %computername%)
Reg Commands:
REG ADD "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v AutoAdminLogon /t REG_SZ /d 1 /f

REG ADD "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v DefaultDomainName /t REG_SZ /d domainname /f

REG ADD "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v DefaultUserName /t REG_SZ /d username /f

REG ADD "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v DefaultPassword /t REG_SZ /d password /f

 

[Markverhyden]

Update: this was the final trick that worked for me. Just to clarify, change the values just before the /f to those of the computer and username. Also, use the spacebar after entering the first REG ADD to quickly get to where you need to edit for each cmd line.

Get to a cmd prompt and set it to auto-logon (source). This appears to be the solution that finally worked. Others are using RDP or psexec but not sure of that process.

Set DefaultDomainName to match ComputerName (cmd: echo %computername%)
Reg Commands:
REG ADD "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v AutoAdminLogon /t REG_SZ /d 1 /f

REG ADD "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v DefaultDomainName /t REG_SZ /d domainname /f

REG ADD "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v DefaultUserName /t REG_SZ /d username /f

REG ADD "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v DefaultPassword /t REG_SZ /d password /f

How did this solve the blinking screen problem? Did it just go away once you had auto login setup? I've yet to try this so it's on the schedule for tomorrow. But so far I've not been able to get a cli on the native install. Only via the repair using the Dell recovery disk. One thought I had was to delete hiberfil.sys since the OS touches that file as long as it is enabled. Figured that if it's deleted then the OS will start with a tabula rasa in respect to those features. Another thing is this customer's machine is W7 Home Premium so that may be why I'm not having any luck with the commands you are using.

 

[acscva]

Yeah I have one of my home PC's that I am having no luck with these commands either! UGH!

 

[Markverhyden]

Freaking Windoze!!!! Trying all kinds things as mentioned above. Also tried startup repair (nothing wrong), deleted the hiberfil.sys, tried some restore points which all failed. So rebooted yet again to try some more stuff. This time it booted into startup repair and did find something wrong. Came back after a while and I'm at the login screen!!! And it's showing the onscreen KB so either I had a brain cramp doing the utilman trick or there was some other undocumented feature. Now to login and check stuff out.

 

[thecomputerguy]

Good news .. I have an HP AIO with this issue ... I was able to boot to safe mode with command prompt and ran this

%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\wusa.exe /uninstall /quiet /forcerestart /kb:3097877

Computer did not reboot after, didn't get any message that the command was successful but after running shutdown -r I was able to get the computer to boot.

 

[rojinkm]

We had three All in one in same day, tried the command option didn't work. tried restore first time it didn't work, second time it did work and problem solved and updated successfully.

 

[kpk1]

I so wish I'd known about this before... Had two AIO desktops in with this..

Is this a touchscreen issue as such or is that a coincidence??

 

[Markverhyden]

The one I had was a touch screen as well so I'm sure there is something related to that.

 

[NYJimbo]

Just got this in. Dell AIO Win 7, flashing screen. Nice job Microsoft.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Problems with Outlook, Flashing screens on touchscreens, and unable to login to domains are the primary issues with the clusterfuck patch. Stuff like this is why I'm reluctant to upgrade my business clients to Windows 10.